Clinical pathway for peritoneal carcinomatosis from colon and rectal cancer: guidelines for current practice.

Peritoneal carcinomatosis from colon and rectal cancer was in the past a terminal condition without curative treatment options. Recently, an aggressive treatment strategy has resulted in long-term survival in a select group of patients with this condition. The sequence of diagnostic tests and treatments for these patients are presented in a chronological order as a clinical pathway. This exposition is to provide a standardized management plan that will allow critical evaluation of the morbidity, mortality, outcomes and cost of this protracted plan of patient care. The discipline that the clinical pathway process demands may facilitate the continued optimization of this treatment strategy.